Last year I built one of these hives for myself, and the rest of them are regular hives. The reason why I like this one is because I can inspect this hive in no time. As soon as I open it, I get to see the whole picture, everything is right there in front of me. I also made a little window on the back of it. Great job and you should definitely give it a chance. You can also go to this link and take a look at mine. Beekeeping(End of August)Art